1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a terminal, such as a mobile telephone, selectively including any one of camera units, etc., to which and from which the camera unit can be attached and detached, and a camera unit that can be attached to and can be detached from the terminal. The invention also relates to a terminal camera unit system having the terminal and the camera unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
<First Related Art>
Hitherto, for example, a mobile telephone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) including an image pickup function has been available as a portable terminal including an image pickup function. As a first related art according to such a portable terminal, an image pickup section using an image pickup device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is fixed to a housing of a portable terminal.
<Second Related Art>
On the other hand, portability of the portable terminal having the image pickup section fixed to the housing as in the first related art is impaired because the housing is upsized as the image pickup section is provided. Thus, as a second related art, an image pickup section is made detachable and when the image pickup function is not used, the image pickup section is removed, so that portability is not impaired. (For example, refer to JP-A-11-136653.)
<Third Related Art>
With the portable terminal having the image pickup section fixed to the housing as in the first related art, if the user takes his or her photograph, the user takes a photograph as he or she stretches his or her arm holding the portable terminal with the image pickup function while directing the image pickup direction toward him or her.
Thus, to solve a problem of being incapable of making the photographing distance in taking his or her own photograph longer than his or her arm, as a third related art, an image pickup section is made detachable from the main body of a housing and is made controllable by radio communications from the main body so that the user can also take a photograph from a distant position. (For example, refer to JP-A-2002-335434.)
<Fourth Related Art>
With the portable terminal having the image pickup section fixed to the housing as in the first related art, if the portable terminal includes a communication function like a mobile telephone with an image pickup function, the image pickup section, a display section, and the like are fixed integrally to the housing. Thus, unlike a picture phone, it is impossible to take a photograph of the user's face and make conversation while seeing an image of the associated party. Thus, as a fourth related art, the image pickup section and the display section are made detachable from the main body of a housing so that the portable terminal can be used as a picture phone. (For example, refer to JP-A-2003-32344.)
<Fifth Related Art>
Some portable terminals having an image pickup section fixed to a housing as in the first related art are provided with a flash section such as a strobe flash together with the image pickup section. However, some users may consider that such flash section is unnecessary and that the image pickup section is also unnecessary.
In such a case, when the portable terminal having the flash section and the image pickup section includes any other function required for the user than the image pickup function, if the flash section and the image pickup section are not required, the user must purchase the portable terminal having the section because there is no room for selection. Then, as a fifth related art, attention is focused on the fact that a battery cover is detachable from the main body of a portable terminal, and the flash section, the image pickup section, etc., is selectively provided on the battery cover and the battery cover can be replaced with another one, extending the range of user's choices.
<Sixth Related Art>
Unlike the portable terminals as in the first and second related arts, a video camera has a lens unit made detachable as the camera unit is detachable from the portable terminal in the second related art, and enables the user to replace the detachable lens unit with a different type of lens unit as a sixth related art. (For example, refer to JP-A-9-33793.)
Each of the video camera and the lens unit according to the sixth related art includes a microcomputer and when the lens unit is attached to the video camera, the microcomputer of the lens unit and the microcomputer of the video camera are connected as circuitry.
The microcomputer of the lens unit retains peculiar information concerning the lens unit in an internal storage section and transmits the peculiar information to the video camera connected as circuitry. Thus, the video camera can acquire the peculiar information concerning any lens unit attachable to the video camera and can perform given processing operation corresponding to the lens unit.
<Seventh Related Art>
Hitherto, an intelligent remote monitor system including a plurality of predetermined cameras installed for monitoring the sites and spots of factories, buildings, etc., at remote locations, a camera unit for receiving video signals directly from the plurality of predetermined cameras, and a monitoring personal computer and a monitor support apparatus connected to the camera unit through the Internet has been available. (For example, refer to JP-A-11-266487.)
In the intelligent remote monitor system, the camera unit causes the predetermined cameras to perform given operation based on an operation signal received from the monitoring personal computer and performs predetermined processing for any of videos photographed by the cameras and then transmits a signal of the video to the monitoring personal computer and the monitor support apparatus.
Therefore, in the intelligent remote monitor system, the monitoring personal computer is installed in a guardroom or overnight accommodations separate from a control room, whereby the sites and spots of the factories, buildings, etc., at remote locations can be monitored from the guardroom or overnight accommodations. The monitor support apparatus saves the received videos in sequence and detects whether or not situation change occurs based on the most recent video and its immediately preceding video.
Hitherto, a crime prevention camera apparatus including a camera unit having an image pickup camera, memory, a communication modem, etc., and an anomaly detection section of a vibration detector, a door opening/closing sensor, etc., has been available. This crime prevention camera apparatus is installed so that the image pickup camera of the camera unit photographs the surroundings of the object to be monitored, such as a vending machine, and the anomaly detection section detects an anomaly of the object to be monitored, and transmits image pickup data before and after detection of the anomaly or the like to a predetermined terminal.
Hitherto, an attachment that can be attached to and detached from a predetermined mobile telephone and includes a specific site storage section storing the address of a specific site on a communication network, a specific site connection button, and a login program storage section storing a predetermined program for accessing the specific site has been available. If the user presses the specific site connection button with the attachment attached to a predetermined mobile telephone, the attachment enables the user to easily connect to the specific site.
Hitherto, an image management method and system have been available wherein a content identifier such as an image icon, for example, is previously associated with an image stored in a service provider on a communication network and access to the image stored in the service provider, executed using the content identifier is monitored, etc.
JP-A-11-136653, JP-A-2002-335434, JP-A-2003-32344, JP-A-9-33793 and JP-A-11-266487 are referred to as related art.
However, with the portable terminal having the image pickup section fixed to the housing as in the first related art, if the user wants to change only the image pickup section to that improved in performance or, for example, if the user wants to change the image pickup section to any selected from among those having image pickup devices with low resolution, standard resolution, and high resolution or having image pickup lenses of a wide-range lens and a super-telephoto lens, the user cannot replace the image pickup section only and must purchase a new portable terminal.
In the first related art, if the user using any other portable terminal including no image pickup section wants to use an image pickup section, the user must purchase a new portable terminal including the image pickup section.
In summary, in the portable terminal having the image pickup section fixed to the housing as in the first related art, the camera unit of the image pickup section is not attachable/detachable and the user cannot select or replace his or her desired one from among camera units different in the number of image pickup pixels.
For the portable terminal to and from which the camera unit is attached and detached as in the second related art, processing operation software for controlling the camera unit needs to be previously stored in the camera unit. If an attempt is made to make it possible to attach the camera unit to different types of portable terminals, different types of the software also need to be previously stored in response to the types of portable terminals.
In the portable terminals according to the second to fourth related arts, the image pickup section can be attached to and detached from the main body of the housing, but the image pickup section can be attached to and detached from the main body only in the individual relationship; if another image pickup section having different performance, etc., is attached to a specific main body, harmonization between the main body and the image pickup section is not guaranteed.
With the portable terminal according to the fifth related art, if the battery cover is provided with not only the image pickup section, but also any other device than the image pickup section, such as the flash section, even if the user wants to replace the image pickup section only, the user must replace the whole battery cover together with any other device such as the flash section and therefore the portable terminal according to the fifth related art involves a similar problem to that involved in the portable terminal according to the first related art with the image pickup section fixed to the housing.
In the portable terminal according to the fifth related art, if a battery cover having the image pickup section having different performance, etc., is attached to a specific main body, harmonization between the main body and the image pickup section is not guaranteed as in the second to fourth related arts.